The coastal marine demonstration of forecast information to mariners off the U.S. east coast: a status report

A stated goal of the NOAA is to provide a capability to measure, understand, analyze, and forecast coastal environmental phenomena that impact coastal economies, public safety, and environmental management. A partnership project was established to demonstrate the capability of providing improved coastal marine environmental information to a selected group of marine customers in a major port of the United States, and was funded by the National Ocean Partnership Program. The Coastal Marine Demonstration (CMD) was developed jointly by government, academia and industry, encompassing twelve partners. As a major partner, NOAA has embarked on a plan to improve predictions and develop new products based on coastal forecasting experiments and advancements in modeling capability for the coupled ocean and atmosphere. Coastal modeling and information systems have progressed to the point that such a demonstration is not only feasible but also practical. The project integrates experimental forecast products under development for coastal waters, harbours, and bays, with higher resolution atmospheric forecasts; and new methods for dissemination and display of coastal environmental information. The project is a strong test of the coastal observation networks. The CMD project tests the state of the art in marine forecasting and evaluates the potential benefits of experimental higher resolution predictions. Oceanographic and meteorological forecasts for Norfolk Harbor, Chesapeake Bay, and neighboring Atlantic shelf waters are provided for evaluation to a group of customers including harbour pilots and masters, shipping agents, and ship captains while both ashore and at sea.